Chapter 96: A Hunter in Chains (2)

He punched, tore, struggled with everything he had …

Nothing worked.

Aura Armor vanished entirely.

He could no longer manifest it.

His weapons refused to respond.

Even the Executioner Sword outside lost connection and dissolved back into his internal weapon space.

Within that suffocating darkness…

Ethan was powerless.

His expression darkened.

Then he laughed.

He laughed as the creature slung him over its shoulder and carried him away.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

The situation was so absurd… laughter was all he had left.

“After a whole damn month of training… after clawing my way up just to unlock Aura Armor… I lose to the first thing I meet?!”

It was a complete defeat.

An utter humiliation.

And worse … he was now a prisoner, dragged somewhere unknown.

“I thought I’d become strong… turns out I’m still just trash. And trash always ends up in a garbage bag…”

Ethan laughed at himself, mocking his own fate.

Realizing resistance was useless … the sack couldn’t be torn …

he simply lay back inside it, allowing the creature to carry him wherever it pleased.

“Where the hell is it taking me…?”

“A nest of monsters? Some execution ground for intruders?”

Peering through tiny holes in the fabric, Ethan observed the outside world.

With every passing second… the creature moved deeper into the city.

Toward its very core.

And with every step, Ethan’s frown deepened.

“You damned bastard… where exactly are you taking me?!”

He struggled again, thrashing like a madman … but it was pointless.

His strength was completely suppressed within the sack,

its material seemingly impossible to tear.

Worse still, the creature didn’t stop—

not even once.

To the point that Ethan began to suspect the worst.

“That thing… is it taking me straight to the boss?”

Legacy Dungeons were cleared by defeating their boss.

Which meant…

There had to be one in Old Ashvarn.

“A boss like Matheus… only worse.”

Matheus had been comparable to King-rank fighters.

If the entity ruling this place surpassed him …

That would be a disaster.

“What the hell am I supposed to do… if I end up in front of it?”

With each step the creature took, Ethan’s chances of survival shrank further.

And finally …

the creature reached its destination.

It was a structure far larger than anything around it.

An enormous arena, almost like an ancient colosseum—complete with towering stands and an underground section hidden beneath it.

The creature dragged Ethan inside.

Then at last …

It released him.

Throwing him into a cell.

The iron gates slammed shut behind him, sealing him inside.

The moment Ethan’s feet touched the ground again—free once more—

he didn’t hesitate.

He lunged at the steel bars with everything he had,

intent on breaking through… and escaping immediately.

“You’ve made a grave mistake… letting me out !”

Ethan was certain he could shatter the iron gate if he focused all his strength into a single blow.

But reality struck back far harsher than he had imagined.

The moment his Legion Arm collided with the bars, a violent shockwave hurled him backward, sending him crashing into the cell’s interior …

the gate itself hadn’t budged even a fraction.

“What the hell?!”

Steadying himself, he scanned his surroundings… then his own body.

That was when he realized it—the strange suppression that had bound him inside the sack was still there.

Only now… it was the prison itself enforcing it.

The creature had already left, its heavy footsteps fading into the distance.

It paid no attention to Ethan’s resistance—as if it were absolutely certain he would never escape.

It hadn’t tried to kill him… only imprison him … for reasons he still couldn’t grasp.

But Ethan refused to sit still.

He slammed his fist into the iron bars again and again, the clang of metal echoing violently through the prison.

“Get back here, you bastard! We’re not done yet!!”

Each strike rang out like a tolling bell, reverberating across the entire structure.

The noise grew unbearable, merging with Ethan’s furious shouting …

until a familiar voice finally broke through the chaos from a nearby cell.

“You… that voice… Ethan?!”

It was rough deep … and unmistakably belonged to someone he knew well.

“…Raiden?!” Ethan raised a brow in surprise, realizing one of his teammates was right beside him.

“It really is you! I can’t believe it … you’re alive!” Raiden shouted, relief clear in his voice.

“Big brother… thank God… I thought you were dead,” came Chai’s smaller voice from another cell nearby.

Alicia lay beside him, curled on the ground, hugging herself tightly … silent, exhausted.

“Why are you all so happy to see him?”

Her voice was low, drained of hope.

“He’s been captured just like us… he’ll face the same fate.”

Her words made Ethan pause.

The other cells were full ..

yet none of the faces he glimpsed were familiar.

“Did that creature capture all of you too?” Ethan asked, puzzled at how one being could catch so many.

Raiden’s answer sent a chill through him.

“There’s… more than one of them.”

Ethan frowned. “More than one?”

Raiden nodded grimly.

“They’re strange creatures. They don’t kill us… don’t even hurt us. They just capture us… and drag us here.”

He exhaled heavily, the weight of that reality pressing down on him.

Ethan’s curiosity only deepened.

“Then why would they go through all that?”

“To make us fight.”

The answer came from elsewhere …

a voice Ethan didn’t recognize.

It came from a distant cell, its owner having listened in silence until finally speaking up.

“Who are you… and what do you mean?” Ethan asked.

The stranger replied coldly, “You don’t need to know who I am. Just understand this—anyone brought here becomes a fighter in the arena.”

“They force us to fight each other to the death… like animals in some twisted spectacle.”

“We can’t escape. These cells suppress us. The only place we can use our power… is inside the arena.”

“And even if you try to run then… you’ll be surrounded by dozens of those creatures. So do us all a favor … shut up already.”

His tone was irritated, fed up.

Ethan fell silent.

He wanted to see the man, but the cell was too far… and more importantly—

he had learned something crucial.

“The arena… does that mean I might end up fighting you guys?”

The question lingered in the air.

Silence followed.

Then Raiden nodded.

“We’ve been here longer than you. We’ve already fought a few matches…

We haven’t been matched against each other yet… but…”

He paused.

“It could happen… if this continues.”

“We might really be forced… to kill each other.”

A faint smile formed on Ethan’s face.

“What a joke… So the monsters are entertaining themselves with us now?”

He struck the bars once more, slower this time.

Now he understood his situation.

Yet too many unknowns remained …

especially that mysterious man… and the sheer number of cells stretching endlessly into the distance.

It was impossible that all of them held hunters.

If that was the case…

’Then who exactly is locked inside all those other cells?’

The thought lingered.

After observing for a while, Ethan realized something else …

Moon and Luna weren’t among the prisoners.

When he asked, Raiden confirmed they had been separated earlier.

“At least… some of us are doing better than others.”

After a month of relentless growth,

Ethan now stood behind iron bars …

Searching for a way to reclaim the freedom that had been taken from him.

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